President Donald Trump and House Republicans met at the White House on Wednesday for high-stakes negotiations over a sweeping tax and spending package that has divided the GOP and faces fierce opposition from Democrats.
The proposed legislation—officially dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—includes several of Trump’s top priorities: making permanent the 2017 tax cuts, eliminating taxes on tips, increasing defense and border security funding, and slashing federal health care spending.
But as the self-imposed deadline of May 26 approaches, deep divisions within the Republican Party threaten to derail the bill’s path through Congress.
Members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus have refused to back the plan, arguing it doesn’t go far enough in reducing government spending. At the same time, several Republicans from Democratic-leaning states are pushing for more generous tax credits for residents who face high state tax burdens.
Trump, who previously promised to shrink the federal deficit, is now backing a plan that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates would add $2.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The current U.S. debt stands at roughly $36.2 trillion.
Despite that, Trump has defended the bill, calling it “a big, beautiful bill,” and maintains that tax cuts will spur economic growth. He also claims that additional revenue from his separate tariff policies would help offset rising costs. But most economists—and the nonpartisan CBO—disagree, warning that the legislation would increase the deficit and disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.
Still, Republican leadership is pressing forward. After an intense night of closed-door talks that included a rare 1 a.m. committee session, House Speaker Mike Johnson said a full House vote could come as early as Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
The political math is tricky: with Democrats uniformly opposed, and only a slim Republican majority in the House, Trump and his allies can afford to lose just a few GOP votes.
Tensions flared Wednesday as Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky criticized the rushed process and lack of transparency. “Major provisions of the big beautiful bill are still being negotiated and written, yet we are being told we will vote on it today,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Trump, for his part, earlier called Massie a “grandstander.”
The president spent part of Tuesday on Capitol Hill, trying to rally House Republicans behind the plan. But it’s still unclear if he’s swayed enough holdouts to get the bill over the finish line.
Meanwhile, Democrats have blasted the legislation as a giveaway to the wealthy. A separate CBO analysis concluded the bill would financially benefit the top 10% of earners while leaving low-income Americans worse off.
“We’re going to ask Americans to finance tax cuts for billionaires on the national debt—on the credit card,” said Representative Gwen Moore, a Democrat from Wisconsin.
Despite the fierce backlash, Republicans like Representative Jason Smith of Missouri remain determined. “Failure is not an option in getting this done,” he said.
Even if the bill manages to pass in the House, it faces further hurdles. The Senate, also controlled by Republicans, is expected to propose amendments. A final version would then have to be negotiated and approved by both chambers before heading to the president’s desk.
With just 10 days left before the Memorial Day deadline, Trump and House Republicans are racing against the clock to push through one of the most consequential—and controversial—pieces of legislation in recent memory.
